


Of Swords and Tutus

by KyuubiPandoraChan



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ballet, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ballet, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:02:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26877121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyuubiPandoraChan/pseuds/KyuubiPandoraChan
Summary: Finally, after much pushing, she managed to get to the front of the room. When her eyes landed on Marlene’s teacher, she gasped.Standing right in front of the class was none other than Sephiroth, in a blue tank top and black tights underneath."Oh for the love of Ifrit..."
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Sephiroth, Aerith Gainsborough/Sephiroth
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Of Swords and Tutus

**Author's Note:**

> I will like to thank Seri for inspiring me to write this and also to those people who has been posting the 'leg stretching meme' (I don't know what it's called but it's so popular now), I've decided to do this one shot. It's crazy but who wouldn't like to see Sephiroth doing ballet. I mean come on, did you see him do the tippy toe whenever he lands.
> 
> Might do a universe with this one shot like a collection piece for this universe. And to those who are waiting for 'A Runway Affair', don't worry. I'm still finalizing something before I post it. Not to mention, I will like to draw for the next chapter as well.

“Cloud, you got this!”

Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie cheering for their friends as they watched the Kendo match below.

The sound of the clashing sword resonated throughout the hall. There was only silence as the crowd looked on to the two competitors. Both of their swords were swinging and parrying as they tried to land a strike. The heavy bogu that they are wearing covered and protected their face from the strikes of the sword.

It was the final round of the competition but it was clear that Cloud’s opponent has the upper hand. His movement was smooth and his footwork was swift. It was like watching him fly. Every swing was graceful. Aerith was no expert but she can see the differences in technique and she was captivated.

Cloud was good but he was no match to the opponent’s speed. It was too fast to see but it was clear that the opponent managed to strike all of the spots, thus ending the match.

Both competitors faced each other, kneeled and put away their sword.

“And the winner for the 65th Kendo competition goes to Sephiroth. This will be his 7 consecutive wins.”

The crowd cheered and Aerith looked on as the winner took off his helmet, revealing long silver hair, tied up in a ponytail.

Yuffie whistled and nudged Aerith. “Boy, isn’t he gorgeous? Look at that face and hair. I bet under that armor, he has a fine physique as well.”

Tifa shook her head and smiled. “Well, he is not to my taste.”

“Oh, I know what’s your taste. Wild blonde hair, big blue eyes…”

Tifa got off her seat and proceeded to stop Yuffie from saying any further while squishing Aerith who was sitting in between.

“Girls, come on. No fighting. We are here to cheer on Cloud, remember. He must have felt overwhelmed. So let’s give him our full support.”

“Aerith is right. Let’s go down and meet him.”

As they walked down towards the stage, Aerith can’t help but glance back to the silver-haired man.

* * *

“You did great, Cloud.”

“Thanks, Tifa but I was outmatched back there. Sephiroth was awesome. As expected of him.” Cloud said with a tinge of hero worship. It was a known fact that he took up kendo when he first saw the Sephiroth in a kendo match a few years back.

Aerith smiled as she turned around to face them. “Don’t worry about it. I know you will do great the next time as well.”

As she was walking backward, her back collided with someone. Aerith righted herself before she falls on her behind. She turned around to see a red-haired man glaring at her.

“Hey, watch where you are going.”

“I’m sorry.” Aerith apologized but it does not seem to appease the man.

"Sorry? If sorry can fix everything then this world will be all rainbow and sunshine."

Aerith frowned and began to bunch her hands into fists. "First, I already said I'm sorry. Secondly, what more do you want? It's because of people like you that the world is not all rainbow and sunshine."

The red-haired man was practically fuming by now. "Now listen here..."

Before Cloud could step in, someone approached the redhead from behind and gently placed his hand on his shoulder. All of them stared as Sephiroth admonished the redhead.

“Genesis, it’s an accident. She apologized.”

“Fine.” Genesis turned to them. “Watch where you are walking next time.” With that said, he proceeded to walk away, leaving Sephiroth behind.

The silver-haired man shook his head with a smile before turning back to them. “You have to forgive my friend. He’s not in the best of mood after his match. But I've got to say, no one has ever challenged Genesis head on like that outside of a sword fight and still left standing. I'm impress.”

Aerith blushed at the compliment. “Thanks? And sorry for the little outburst. I don't know what got over me. Can you perhaps tell him I'm truly sorry.”

Sephiroth nodded. "I shall relay your message to him." And then he turned to look at Cloud. “It was a great match today. I hope to see you again in the next tournament, Cloud.”

“Uh, yea…Me too. Thanks for the match today.” Cloud bowed.

The silver-haired man bowed as well before walking away to the direction of his friend. All of them exhaled, not realizing that they were holding in their breath throughout the whole confrontation.

“Aerith, are you alright?” Yuffie said.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I got so mad when he kept going on like that. I refused to back down. Sometime, these people have to be shown their places. Not everyone can be bullied into submission."

"You said it, Aerith." Yuffie whooped. "Come on, let's go."

Cloud was still blushing as Tifa walked over to him. “Are you blushing, Cloud?”

“You must be seeing things, Tifa. Let’s just go.”

All of them smiled as they proceeded to follow Cloud as he stomped away in embarrassment. As they were walking away, Aerith again couldn’t help but stare at the retreating figure of a certain swordsman.

* * *

Aerith was daydreaming the entire morning as she manned the counter of her flower shop. She can’t get her mind off of Sephiroth. There is something about him that pulls her towards him.

Just then, the sound of chime from the doorway broke her out of reverie. She looked up to see Barret with Marlene on his shoulder, walking towards her.

“Hi, Barret. Hi Marlene. What can I do for you today?”

“Hey, Aerith. I will need a little favor from ya. Ya see, I was gonna bring my sweet little angel to her ballet recital but work calls. So I will need ya to help me bring her to the center. Hope I ain’t bothering ya too much.”

“It’s fine. My assistant can take care of the shop while I’m gone. It has been a slow day.”

“Thanks, Aerith. I owed ya.” He then proceeded to lower Marlene to the ground. “Be good to Aerith, alright. Papa will be back soon.”

“Alright, Papa. See ya.” She waved to her father.

Aerith waved as well and then proceeded to tell her assistant to take care of the shop. “I’ll be out for a while. Thank you for taking care of the shop. Come on, Marlene.” She extended her hand to the little girl.

Marlene smiled and took her hand. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be late. Mister Valentine doesn’t like latecomers.”

“Oh, Mister Valentine?”

“No judgment!” Marlene frowned at her.

Aerith waved her hand around. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just a strange name, that’s all. Do you know I used to learn ballet but gave up on it because the teacher said I was not good at it?”

“Is it? But Mister Valentine is really good. You should come and see it. Now let’s hurry.”

As they were walking towards the center, she can’t help but wonder about Marlene’s teacher. She was curious and the more she thinks about it, the cuter it gets, as she pictured a grown man teaching a bunch of little girls in tutu.

When they arrived at the center, they were a sizeable crowd of mothers in the hallway, all peeking into the practice room. Aerith took Marlene’s bag and proceeded to usher her in, squeezing her way through.

“Excuse me, coming through.”

As she wedged her way around the crowd, she can’t help but eavesdropped on some of the conversations.

“Look at him. He is such a sight for sore eyes.”

“I agree. It makes waiting so much more bearable.”

Aerith shook her head. ‘No wonder there were so many people crowding the area. They have been eyeing the poor teacher.’

Finally, after much pushing, she managed to get to the front of the room. When her eyes landed on Marlene’s teacher, she gasped.

Standing right in front of the class was none other than Sephiroth, in a blue tank top and black tights underneath.

"Oh for the love of Ifrit..." She was left completely speechless as she stared ahead.

“Aerith…” Marlene called as she shook her.

“Oh uhm…yes?” She blushed as she looked down at the little girl.

“You need to sit outside while we practice.”

“Oh yeah, silly me. I will be waiting for you outside.”

Just as she was walking out, she glanced up just in time to see Sephiroth looking at her. She can see recognition in his eyes as he stared back.

Aerith squeaked and proceeded to see herself out, trying to hide behind the other mothers. She walked to the nearest seat and began to put her hands on her flaming cheeks.

“First time here, eh?”

The brunette looked towards her left to the speaker. “Oh, yea. Haha.”

“Believe me, you won’t get used to it.”

“Come again?”

“You will see for yourself.”

Aerith was confused but then looked ahead as the class starts. She can see Sephiroth instructing his class of little girls. He was very soft-spoken and graceful as he demonstrated what they were doing today.

“And this is what we called Passé.” Gently, he lowered his leg from his knee while holding his hand up above his head. The movement was gentle and light.

And suddenly, something clicked in Aerith. It all makes sense now and it explained Sephiroth’s swift footwork and graceful movement in the kendo match.

“Before we began, we shall do a little bit of stretching to warm up.”

All of the little girls began to line up near the wall and following their teacher who proceeded to stretch his left leg up on the wall, completing a perfect split.

Aerith can’t help but be in awe of his flexibility. For a man his height and build, it almost seems impossible but there he is, doing the split while standing.

“See what I mean?” The mother from before began to say.

“Yea. I get what you mean.”

She was truly and utterly captivated.

* * *

As the class ends, everyone began to file out. Aerith got out of her chair and began walking towards Marlene who was talking to her teacher.

“Hello.”

Sephiroth and Marlene turned towards her and Aerith can’t help but squirmed when his eyes landed on her.

“Hello. It’s such a coincidence meeting you here.”

“Yea. What a small world after all. Sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Aerith. A friend of Marlene’s father.” She extended her hand.

The silver-haired man then proceeded to shake her hand. “Pleasure to meet you. I’m Sephiroth Valentine.”

“So, you are a full-time teacher here?” She asked.

“Yes. This is my mother’s ballet center. Currently, I’m helping her run it.”

“And kendo as well? That is another level of multitasking.”

“I learned ballet when I was younger but got into kendo as I got older for self-defense. Suffice to say, I enjoyed both. It gives a balance to one another.”

“I see. I guessed this gave you an advantage in kendo.”

“Indeed.”

Marlene then began to pat the taller man leg, getting his attention. “Mister Valentine, Aerith used to learn ballet.”

“Oh…is that so?”

Aerith waved her hands and shook her head. “It was a long time ago. The teacher has considered me useless in that aspect. I can’t even do the basic Arabesque without getting reprimanded.”

Sephiroth chuckled. “I’m sure you will do fine. If you don’t mind, will you care to show me?”

“Uhm…”

Marlene walked over to Aerith to cheer her on. “Come on, Aerith. You can do it and Mister Valentine can teach you. He is a great teacher.”

Being driven to a corner, Aerith can’t help but squeeze her eyes and exhale in defeat. “Well, alright.”

Sephiroth smiled as he nodded to her. “Wait here. I will go get the proper shoe.”

When Sephiroth left for the other room, Aerith turned to Marlene who in turn looked away as if nothing happened. Sometimes, she felt that Marlene knew more than she let on. Before she can even call Marlene out, Sephiroth walked back into the room.

“Here you go. Let me help you put it on.”

Aerith sat on one of the chairs as he helped her get into the shoes. His hands were huge compared to her feet as he eased her foot into the ballet shoe. She can’t help but shudder at the touch. It seems almost intimate with the way he was holding her foot as he tied the shoe.

When it was done, she got up and do a little bit of warm-up to get her muscles working. It has been a long time since she did this.

She then got into position and began to stretch her hand outward, standing on her tiptoe, with one leg extended backward. She looked at her reflection on the floor-to-ceiling mirror and realized that her posture was sluggish and dreadful. She felt silly to even think about doing this in front of him.

Just when she was about to give up, she felt someone supporting her from behind. She looked up and saw Sephiroth doing the same pose as her while he supported her hand and leg.

“You are doing great. Now back straight, face up.”

Her heart started to beat loudly in her chest as he whispered encouragement in her ear. She can feel every word reverberated from his chest on her back. Not to mention how intimate the posture is. She can’t help but blush at the thought.

“Alright, that’s it for today.”

He helped her down from her position, his hands still holding hers as they faced each other.

Looking closely now, she can’t help but marvel at his bright green eyes and chiseled jaw. He was beautiful and yet, she knew he can never be hers. ‘He might already have a special someone.’ Shaking that thought away, she righted herself and smiled.

“Well, I better get going.” Reluctantly, she took her hands away. “Thank you for your time.”

As she was walking towards the exit with Marlene, she was stopped when Sephiroth took her hand and proceeded to hand her a paper.

“I hope we can meet up again.”

Aerith looked down on the paper and smiled as she stared at the numbers written on it, along with a sentence _'You are one of a kind'_.

“Sure.”

**Author's Note:**

> How do you find it? Do comment and give me feedback on it.


End file.
